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A mutual fund office bustles with activity inside JPMorgan Chase's McCoy Center in Polaris. There are 7,500 workers at the complex and 14,500 in the area.

Chase thriving in region -

Just as they are now, jobs were a precious central Ohio commodity in early 2004.

So, the announcement of JPMorgan Chase's proposed $58 billion acquisition of Bank One -- and the
possible loss of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the two companies' 12,500 local jobs -- sent shock
waves through the Columbus area.

And why not? Mergers and layoffs go hand in hand. When the deal was announced Jan. 14, company
officials said 10,000 employees would be let go to save money. How many would come from the 9,500
local employees of Bank One and 3,000 at Chase?

"Everyone was concerned Columbus would lose jobs and income-tax revenue and for us, the
spillover effect of having such a large presence (at Polaris) was important," said Franz Geiger,
managing director of NP Limited Partnership, developer of Polaris Centers of Commerce, which
included Bank One's massive 2 million-square-foot facility.

The mayor started lobbying and the Columbus Chamber formed a team to keep the high-paying jobs
in the region.

"Any time you have a merger, there are uncertainties. There is concern about the impact
locally," said Chamber President Ty Marsh.

Skip ahead four-plus years and those concerns might seem a distant memory.

The number of Chase jobs actually has grown locally to about 14,500 as the New York-based
company moved national operations to its Polaris and Easton facilities. Chase is adding branch
offices and challenging Huntington Bancshares' reign as the area's top bank.

These 14,500 jobs -- and the accompanying wages and benefits of about $900 million -- sustain an
additional 23,600 full-time jobs in the area, according to the chamber.

"It's been a very positive outcome, positive for Chase and our region," Marsh said.

The plan from the start was to take advantage of what was already in Columbus, said Jamie Dimon,
chief executive of Bank One at the time of the merger and Chase chief executive since 2006.

"There was already a huge base of operations here that was very successful," he said, adding the
region has a strong work force and is a relatively inexpensive place to do business.

As for the future of Chase, there is plenty of room for growth at the Easton and Polaris
facilities and a desire to do so. It all depends on the economy, Dimon said.

Chase has $1.8 trillion in assets and a relatively small exposure to the subprime mortgages that
have hurt so many other banks. In fact, its financial strength allowed it to buy troubled
investment bank Bear Stearns this year to avoid its collapse. However, the company did recently
report that it lost $1.5 billion, after hedges, in its mortgage-backed securities and loans during
the current quarter, compared with $1.1 billion in the second three months of 2008.

"That doesn't change anything," Dimon said. "We're big boys, we're not immune to the
environment, but we have the capital and resources to keep growing."

All aboard Air Polaris

Calling it massive doesn't do justice to the $242 million McCoy Center at Polaris.

Dimon said it is "the second-largest flat building in America behind the Pentagon." McCoy is
four stories high and sits on 150 acres.

"Polaris kind of blows your mind," Dimon said of the building.

More than the Pentagon, McCoy resembles an airport terminal, with a quarter-mile-long lobby
filled with natural light and trees, even a babbling fountain. A steady stream of the center's
7,500 employees flows through the lobby at any given time.

There is a gift shop, Starbucks, dry cleaners, nurse's station, two cafeterias, even a place to
get a massage -- $20 for 15 minutes.

Branching off from the lobby are a series of wings filled with a confusing maze of color-coded,
numbered offices which in turn are filled with acres of cubicles.

The McCoy Center is Chase's single-largest building and "a microcosm of the entire company,"
Lyttle said. "Every line of business is represented here: commercial banking, asset management,
retail, financial, legal."

Construction is under way on two parking lots that will add about 1,000 spaces.

Geiger calls the McCoy Center a "mini city" and said the sheer size all but guaranteed the
company would keep it filled with employees after the merger. "You can't exit a piece of real
estate that big without strong justification."

Well before the merger, Chase already had begun to consolidate many of its mortgage services at
the 550,000-square-foot Easton facility, where employment has jumped from 2,500 to 3,000
employees.

Chase services about $700 billion in home loans, Lyttle said, and the Easton center receives
about 265,000 calls a month from mortgage customers.

At its Westerville facility, about 1,500 Chase employees operate a credit-card call center.
There is a processing center and check-clearing operation on Cleveland Avenue in Columbus and
leased space downtown on E. Broad Street in what was once the Bank One national headquarters
building.

The Chase is on

In 2003, Bank One was the area's dominant bank, with a 36.5 percent market share of deposits,
according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Huntington was second at 20.4 percent, followed by
Fifth Third Bank at 12.4 percent.

The merger set off a feeding frenzy to steal Bank One customers. Fifth Third put up signs that
read "Welcome Bank One customers," and Columbus-based Huntington emphasized its local roots.

Even before the merger, "We decided we hadn't been talking enough that we are local," said
Thomas Hoaglin, chief executive and president of Huntington.

The new strategy seemed to work. In 2005, Huntington was No. 1 with a 33.9 percent market share,
followed by Chase at 21.5 percent.

"We've been told by some customers that they feel a little less local," Hoaglin said of Chase.
"That doesn't mean they can't execute well, but for some, 'local' is important."

Chase has been chipping away at the Huntington lead.

The latest FDIC numbers are from June 31, 2007, and Huntington leads Chase in market share 29.7
percent to 23.3 percent. The new numbers come out in October.

"It's always nice to be No. 1, but our goal is to continue to grow and deliver great services,"
said Joe Keller, Chase's manager of retail operations in Ohio.

Central Ohio is a growth area for Chase. There are currently 69 branch offices, and Keller said
five more will open by the end of the year.

Even Hoaglin said the Chase employment numbers are "a great plus for the community."

Analyst Bruce Clapp, president of MarketMatch, a Dayton bank marketing firm, said Chase could
grow by as much as 5 percent to 10 percent through additional acquisitions, which could mean even
more local jobs.

"They have a tremendous national footprint," he said, adding that Chase seems better prepared
than most banks to withstand the turbulent financial times and problems with subprime
mortgages.

At the end of 2003, just before the merger, there were 922,600 jobs in Columbus, according to
the Chamber. This number increased by 26,900 to 949,500 at the end of 2007, which means Chase is
directly and indirectly responsible for about 15 percent of the increase.

Keeping the growth going in uncertain economic times is the key for Chase and other large area
companies whose success or failure affects the region.

"If we grow and are vibrant and healthy, it will be good for Columbus, and if we don't grow,
it's not good for Columbus," Dimon said. "Every day I wake up worrying about the company growing
and being vibrant."